Caught in the Frame Read online

The sun hung low on the horizon when Javier’s progeny made their arrival. In style—in a helicopter with the Garritek logo emblazoned across the side. The whirlybird touched down just long enough to discharge it’s passengers, then lifted off quickly. As it rose into the sky, Chloe felt like it took her stomach along with it.

  Javier rushed ahead to greet them while Lila and Chloe hung back, allowing them a moment. She experienced a moment of envy when Javier greeted his daughter by picking her up and giving her a whirl as though she were eight years old instead of closer to twenty-eight. It was a father/daughter thing, she supposed. Not that she’d had any experience with those. Chestnut curls framed a delicate face and played off the woman’s full, red lips. Javier certainly made attractive children.

  All the feelings of not fitting in roared back through Chloe like stampeding stallions when the young people greeted Lila with hugs and familiarity. Inch by inch, her spine stiffened, the old shields built up and up. She felt like a mile of distance separated her from them, and this time, it was worse, because her mother was on the other side of the divide, still talking animatedly with the sloe-eyed beauty.

  “Chloe.” Javier’s questioning tone pulled Chloe back to focus. Flanking him, his two sons looked enough alike to be twins—twins who bore a marked resemblance to their father. The same white smiles, smooth olive skin, and warm, generous eyes. Only their hairstyles and clothing choices differed.

  Fatherly pride radiated from Javier as he introduced first Cisco, who wore ripped jeans and a band tee—a shock of raven hair angled over his forehead, and then Miguel who favored his father’s relaxed, yet classic style. Chloe wasn’t sure what kind of greeting they expected, so she slapped on a tentative smile and held out her hand.

  Before she had time to utter the first word of greeting, Chloe was nearly knocked over by five feet-two inches of dynamite. “I am Bianca. I have wanted so long to have a sister and all I get are these two—” Bianca let go of Chloe and waved a dramatic arm toward her two brothers. “Come, we will go inside, get a nice limoncello and get to know one another.” It wasn’t like she had a choice; Bianca possessed a firm grip and an iron determination. Her smile, though, was warm, and thawed Chloe’s resistance. She let the chattering Bianca lead her away with only a short backward glance, which showed Lila looking slightly misty.

  * * *

  When Lila had described Javier’s mother, Concetta, as a firecracker, she couldn’t have been more on point. Shorter than Chloe by almost a foot, and nearly as round as she was tall, Concetta possessed a certain joie de vivre, even at her advanced age. Cha-cha-cha-ing across the pub stage, singing a spirited karaoke version of an old disco-era tune in beautiful Spanish, she had everyone in the audience on their feet. With a final bow and a conspiratorial wink in Chloe’s direction, she handed off the microphone to Lila once more.

  In another life, Chloe’s mother might have had a very successful singing career, and Lila never turned down an opportunity to display her talented pipes. As she took the stage for at least the tenth time that night with naked glee, Chloe knew they had hit the bachelorette party nail on the head.

  No inappropriate phallic-shaped ice cubes or embarrassing plastic tiaras for Lila; two-hundred-dollar bottles of Crystal flowed like water into Swarovski flutes alongside caviar-covered toast points and pate de foie gras. Maybe the karaoke wasn’t in keeping with the otherwise five-star accommodations, but the juxtaposition was wholly Lila.

  Over the evening, instead of dwindling, the crowd swelled for a time as more new arrivals stopped in for a bit of the bubbly, and few minutes of hobnobbing with the bride-to-be. She sang a few more songs, and even dragged Chloe and up on stage to harmonize while EV got into a long discussion on the merits of hugelkultur gardening beds with one of Javi’s sisters, also an avid vegetable grower.

  Hours later, when the party finally wound down, Lila, EV, Chloe, and Javier’s family settled around a large round table in the quieter section of the room. Talk turned to anecdotes and marriage advice—mostly given by the women in Javier’s family, since Faith was the only married member of the wedding party. Lila listened politely to cautions of how love changes over time with the intention of ignoring every word completely. It had taken her this long to find Javier and whatever the future might bring, one thing was certain, they would handle it together.

  “I was afraid my Javi would never find love again,” Concetta’s brown eyes twinkled merrily, if a little tipsily, “you make him happy. My blessing upon you both.”

  * * *

  Hoping for a good night message from Nate, Chloe pulled her phone out of a purse so dainty, it hardly had room for anything else. The first thing she saw was an email notification from Wesley:

  Hey Chlo,

  Just following up with that info you wanted. I stumbled onto a site with cached archives of a few gossip rags, and finally found some usable information.

  What followed after was an illuminating series of snippets that quickly came together to paint an unflattering picture.

  Bingo. Oh, Hannah, you’ve been a naughty girl.

  It seemed Ms. Frank had been either hard up for some extra cash, or so intent on building her business that she forgot to protect her clients’ privacy. As an insider, she had access to a plethora of private details surrounding several five-star celebrity weddings, and hadn’t hesitated to sell their secrets—and a few photographs—to any print or online magazine willing to pay big bucks.

  Though not technically illegal, the breech in trust prompted a few high-profile clients to spread the word. It looked like an attempt at damage control had pulled the mentions from the sites, but not from the independent archives. Even then, it hadn’t been enough, and Hannah’s business tanked. Lila was right; this was her last chance at salvaging her career, and Chloe guessed she would stop at nothing to get back into Tinseltown’s good graces.

  “I think it’s time we headed off to bed. Good thing we’ve got a day between now and the wedding, because I doubt any of us are going to be at our best in the morning.” EV squinted at her watch. It was past 2:00 am and she’d gone beyond her typical number of alcohol servings. She wasn’t drunk, but she wasn’t sober, either. The pub was nearly empty since the Rosales clan had succumbed to too many glasses of champagne and trickled off to bed. Only the bride, Chloe, Faith, and Baylee remained. A chorus of agreement resounded.

  Lila stifled a yawn and surveyed the room, her eyes narrowing as something—or someone—caught her attention. “In a minute; there’s something we’ve got to take care of.”

  * * *

  “Not so fast, Hannah Banana. Hand it over.” Chloe breathed down Hannah’s neck, as Lila, EV, Faith and Baylee surrounded the woman, who searched for an escape, but to no avail. “We saw you snapping photos with your little camera phone; and I’ve been monitoring your Twitter and Facebook feeds. We know you’ve been stalking us, pretending to be Lila’s right hand; and we know you’ve contacted The Tattler offering pics of my mother’s wedding in exchange for cash. I’ve got my connections, same as you.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just grabbing a quick drink, and now I think I’ll head up to my room.” EV, Faith, and Baylee linked arms, positioning themselves between Lila and Chloe, and forcing Hannah to remain seated.

  “How dare you try and capitalize on my wedding!” Lila nearly shrieked. Chloe almost felt sorry for Hannah, considering the verbal assault she was about to endure—almost, but not quite. “I told you no when you called me a month ago; told you I was perfectly capable of planning my own wedding. You must realize I have friends and acquaintances all over the globe, so I know you know that I’m well aware you pulled a few shenanigans. Using low-quality products and charging premium prices! That’s just sad!”

  This was a new one for Chloe, but it didn’t come as much of a shock, given Hannah’s other indiscretions. “You’re lucky you got off on a technicality,” Chloe interjected, “and weren’t sent to jail for breech of privacy when you start
ed selling photos to the gossip rags. But your little game is up; get a life, and get a real job!”

  Lila snatched the phone away from Hannah and began to scroll through the photo gallery. Disgust etched further into her face with each swipe, until finally she plunked the device into Hannah’s own half-empty drink. “Try getting anything useful off that, now!” She spat. “And if I ever—I repeat, ever—see an unauthorized photograph of me, my family, or my wedding that even so much as carries your sickly-sweet scent, I’ll bankrupt you in legal fees so fast your little bobble-head will spin. Do I make myself clear?”

  Hannah’s shoulders shook with silent sobs, left her phone and drink at the bar and scuttled out of the room without another word. The second she disappeared around the corner, grins spread across the five women’s faces as they gazed at each other in turn.

  A low whistle escaped EV’s lips. “Remind me never to get on either of your bad sides!”

  “I’ll drink to that!” Faith ordered a round of fruity pink shots before dragging them all onto the dance floor for one last song, late hour be damned.

  Chapter 20

  Now that the moment of truth was upon her, EV wouldn’t let a little thing like a mild hangover and a black eye stop her from seeing Dalton. Dealing with Remy’s arrest had taken up half the night after they’d gotten a confession out of him. The next morning, he’d been incredibly patient when wedding duties kept her from finding a quiet moment to spend with him. The best she’d been able to do was exchange a shrug and a smile each time she’d caught sight of him. He’d checked on her throughout the day, and each glimpse of him watching over her sent her heart racing, pooled heat in her belly. With the bachelorette party behind them, and the wedding tomorrow, Lila had scheduled today as time to spend with Javier’s family, leaving EV completely free.

  When they came together this time, no ghosts would stand between them.

  Chloe’s note on the bedside table read:

  Faith fell asleep in my bed, so Nate and I are taking hers, which leaves Dalton all alone. Don’t tell Mother where I am until at least noon, and don’t be an idiot. Go to him.

  Impertinent brat.

  Yet, the wisdom was undeniable, and EV meant to do just that. She brushed the morning-after fuzziness from her teeth, downed a glass of water, and let the hot spray from the shower beat away the last of the cobwebs. A headline on one of those women-shouldn’t-take-crap-from-anyone-but-they-should-still-look-good magazines in the gift shop insisted that Fifty is the New Thirty. A frank assessment of her body in the mirror told her she still looked good, but maybe not thirty-good. So what if her butt was moving south for the winter, and her breasts rode a little closer to her waist. She wasn’t too old for a new love, right? If there was anything in her life to regret, it was having spent way too much time hoarding her secret pain like a broody hen.

  Having her loss dragged kicking and screaming out into the light had tamed it from a hideous monster to a healing wound she could carry without bending under the weight. Telling someone—being vulnerable enough to share the burden—takes strength, but not as much as it does to carry alone. Ridiculous to be learning something so basic, so seemingly simple a lesson at her age.

  Even now, two days later, the truth of why Remy had turned to revenge left her feeling like she imagined Dorothy felt when she first laid eyes on the humbug masquerading as the great and powerful Oz. A deathbed promise to an old man with dementia was a flimsy excuse for the actions that had turned Tomas into collateral damage.

  All of that was over now, and, grateful for the distraction, EV realized her feet had carried her to Dalton’s door. She swallowed the irrational fear that he might have changed his mind, and tapped rapidly but lightly to find out; her heart rapped to the same beat in her chest.

  Then the door opened, and she was in his arms, and he was kissing her. Deep, drugging kisses that sent tingling heat all the way down to her toes. She pressed against him, whispered over his lips, “mine,” and “more.”

  Before he tumbled her to the bed, Dalton answered with a single word, “Forever.”

  Later, Dalton leaned up on one elbow to look down at her. “How are you feeling?” He lifted a broad hand to brush a lock of hair from her face, scowling at the mark where Remy had hit her. “You should see the other guy,” she joked. Dalton didn’t see the humor. “It doesn’t hurt, honest.”

  “I failed, and he got his hands on you.”

  “Not where it counts. He touched my face, but you touched my soul.”

  His gaze turned solemn. EV turned her face until he cupped the tender flesh with his hand. “I love you,” She said the words he needed to hear, because if she didn’t, she was afraid they might burn their way out of her.

  Everything he felt for her was there in his eyes. Hers fluttered closed, then opened to show him all the shadows had gone.

  * * *

  A quiet knock on the door leading from Lila’s room to the castle hallway interrupted her nightly beauty ritual. After removing her makeup, applying a creamy, anti-aging mask, and a thick layer of night cream, she was finishing the routine with a roll-on eye serum. She needed to look her best tomorrow.

  Though the drama seemed to have subsided, but since she’d banished Javier for the night so he couldn’t possibly see her in her dress before the wedding, Lila looked through the peephole before opening the door, and was surprised to see Nate’s face distorted by the curved lens.

  “Is everything alright? Is it Chloe?”

  “No, no. Everything is fine. I was hoping I could talk to you about something.” Lila ushered him inside, indicating that he take a seat on the sofa while she perched next to him.

  Nate did as directed, leaning over to place his elbows on his knees, nervous energy spilling out of every pore. She remained silent, waiting for the question she knew he was about to ask.

  “I want you to know that I love your daughter more than anything in this world. I get the feeling you’re not so thrilled about that, and I’d like to know why.” This wasn’t the path Lila expected; she was being put on the spot, and that wasn’t something she was used to.

  Lila sighed; she knew she had been less than hospitable toward Nate, and realized that he had shown nothing but care and concern for her Chloe. What more could a mother ask for? It might be time to let him off the hook.

  “Chloe has been my whole world; she’s everything to me. I’ve been lonely since she moved back to Ponderosa Pines. At some point, I figured, she’d tire of provincial life and things would get back to normal.” Lila stalled by brushing at an imperceptible bit of lint on her pants. “I thought I was giving her a life of adventure, the kind of life I dreamed of when I was her age. Instead, it turns out all she wanted was to settle down and stay in one place. Best laid plans, I suppose.” The fidgeting hand moved to rest on his arm.

  “I have nothing against you; in fact, I encouraged her to go after what she wanted. But, I had to make sure you weren’t going to try to clip her wings. I can see that you want her to be happy, and that you’d go to the ends of the earth to ensure that she is.”

  Nate interjected gently but firmly, “You know this means you’re going to have to butt out now, right? I can only handle so much interference.”

  “I will, I promise. And I’m sorry for making you feel like you had something to prove. You’ll understand, someday, when you have children of your own,” she punctuated the statement with a pointed look, “the overwhelming need to meddle. Can you forgive me?” Nate doubted many people had ever been on the receiving end of a Lila LaRue apology, and accepted it without further to-do.

  “You realize I’m not going to bow out gracefully, and that means you and I will be spending time together. Hopefully, as family.”

  Lila’s encouraging smile gave Nate permission to ask the big question. “I want to marry Chloe more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life. Your blessing would mean a lot to me, and to her. Do I have your permission to propose?”

  Tears
sprung to Lila’s eyes as she enveloped Nate in an unguarded hug. “Of course you do. Take care of my baby.”

  “I will.”

  Chapter 21

  Lila stood on a pedestal surrounded by mirrors, watching the admiring faces of her beloved bridal party. Baylee knelt before her, the clicking of her camera audible above the din of a hundred anxious guests waiting in the next room for Lila’s entrance.

  EV, sporting enough pancake makeup to cover her bruises, produced a small velvet box from the bag of emergency supplies Chloe insisted they put together “just in case”.

  “Lila, I have something for you, something old.” With a tender smile, she lifted the lid and removed a single, 24-karat gold, diamond-encrusted hairpin.

  Lila gasped. “I can’t believe you remembered this! You’re going to make me cry and ruin my makeup!”

  “My mother had a whole set of these; six in all.” EV explained to Chloe and Faith. “We used to play with them as kids, can you imagine? There wasn’t much use for this kind of trinket in Ponderosa Pines, so she sold them and used the money to help construct the turbines that now power the town. I think it was more about making a statement than actually needing the money. But she kept this one as a memento, and I thought…” EV’s voice tightened, and when she looked up at Lila, her eyes were swimming with unshed tears.

  “It’s perfect, and I love you. Thank you.” EV slid the pin into place and stepped back to appraise the bride. “It’s also a loaner; I might need it one of these days.” She added with a wink.

  “So that’s old and borrowed; your necklace is new; now we just need something blue.” Chloe looked around the room in a panic. Of all the things to forget.

  Lila lifted her dress, exposing one shapely leg and pointed to a lacy garter edged in blue satin. “All set. Let’s get this show on the road.”